'Illegal' boat sinks off Australia coast

Planes, merchant and navy ships were scouring seas off Australia yesterday in a major search operation after a people-smuggling boat carrying 55 men, women and children sank, with 13 confirmed dead.
The boat was last seen 28 nautical miles northwest of Australia's remote Christmas Island on Wednesday but then vanished.
Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare said a full-scale search involving 15 ships and 10 aircraft was under way.
The navy vessel HMAS Warramunga had been sent to intercept the boat on Thursday but it had disappeared. Aerial searches turned up no sign until Friday, when Clare said a "submerged hull" was seen from the air.
When the drifting boat was first spotted by a border protection aircraft on Wednesday, Clare said officials "identified approximately 55 people on the deck of the vessel".
There was no immediate information about the passengers' nationality, but Myanmar, Iraq, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are the most common source countries for asylum-seekers arriving in Australia.